There exists a vehicle, such as a convertible automobile, which is used in an open-air mode and an enclosed mode by moving a roof of the vehicle between an extended position, at which a vehicle compartment is covered with the roof, and an accommodated position, at which the roof is retracted to be accommodated in an accommodating space (a trunk room) provided at a rear portion of the vehicle.
In such a vehicle, when the vehicle is used in the enclosed mode in which the roof is in the extended position, a panel member is approximately horizontally provided between a back seat of the vehicle and a back portion of the roof. Thus, a part of the trunk room inside the vehicle compartment is covered with the panel, on which small items, such as a hat of an occupant of the vehicle, are placed.
On the other hand, when using the vehicle in the open-air mode in which the roof is moved to the accommodated position, the roof, which is positioned between a front end of a cover of the trunk located outside of the vehicle compartment and a rear end of the panel member, is moved. Therefore, a space is generated at an upper portion of the trunk. Accordingly, such vehicle includes a roof opening/closing apparatus, which moves the panel member to cover the space generated at the upper portion of the trunk thereby closing the trunk.
The panel member according to a known roof opening/closing apparatus, which is for example disclosed in JP3013160B2 (hereinafter, referred to as reference 1), includes a front panel and a rear panel. When moving the roof from the extended position to the accommodated position, the front panel is downwardly pivoted (rotated) and moved in a downward direction to be accommodated in the trunk. Then, a part of the upper portion of the trunk located inside the vehicle compartment is closed (covered) with the rear panel, which is arranged horizontally, between the backseat and the back portion of the roof. On the other hand, when the roof is in the accommodated position, the front panel and the rear panel are horizontally aligned in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle so that a longitudinal width of the panel member becomes wide. Thus, a space generated when the roof is retracted is covered with the panel member, and the trunk is closed therewith.
However, according to the roof opening/closing apparatus disclosed in the reference 1, the front panel is downwardly moved to the trunk serving as the accommodating space when the roof is in the extended position. Therefore, a panel moving mechanism for supporting the panel member and moving the same may not be provided under the panel member. Accordingly, the panel moving mechanism is positioned at both lateral sides of the panel member extending in a width direction of the vehicle, thus supporting the panel member. In addition, the panel member is required to have a sufficient strength for placing the small items thereon and rigidity for restraining noise generation even when the vehicle causes vibrations. Therefore, a weight of the panel member supported only by the lateral ends thereof is increased.
A need thus exists for a roof opening/closing apparatus, which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.